What, no PURPLE PEOPLE EATER in this ONE-EYEd puzzle? Oh ye malevolent crossword grids and your 15-letter constraints! Both the JACK ...
read moreWhat, no PURPLE PEOPLE EATER in this ONE-EYEd puzzle? Oh ye malevolent crossword grids and your 15-letter constraints!

Both the JACK OF SPADES and the JACK of hearts are ONE-EYEd. True fact! Maybe that's why spades and hearts are considered "majors" in contract bridge, while diamonds and clubs are "minors"? I always did wonder why ...
I love me some Greek mythology, but POLYPHEMUS sure didn't come back easily. CYCLOPS, sure. A specific cyclops … that's a tough ask for us mere mortals.
SAMMY DAVIS JR has two eyes, doesn't he? Sure, one is glass. Although, he did refer to himself in this awesome quote: "Talk about handicap. I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew." So he seems fine to include.
BAZOOKA JOE is ONE-EYEd? He has an eye patch, but don't lots of kids wear eye patches for lazy eye or whatever?
You know what would have been awesome? To have just one (letter) I in the puzzle! Maybe dead center, like the eye of the cyclops. Creepy good!
I would have also liked a smoother product for a Monday. Using POLYPHEMUS is tough enough on newer solvers. Crossing it with SEEGER — SEAGER might look fine to some — is asking a lot. And you should be able to figure out HEMAL from HEME, but in my 125+ blood donations, I've never heard someone say or write HEMAL.
I don't mind a little toughness in a Monday puzzle. You don't want to make it TOO easy, with zero challenge. But things like HADJI crossing ESAI crossing VERSO, and RANI … that's a recipe for turning off newer solvers. No bueno!
It's a fine concept, people with ONE EYE (ish). And bonuses like SUPERMAN and I CAN HELP (nice pairing!) helped keep my attention. But the execution needed several more rounds of smoothifying — no reason not to have a better final product, given the average-ish theme density.